Oakland City Council Approves Police Officer Hiring Resolution

On a 5-2 vote, The Oakland City Council approved a resolution that was crafted by Council President Larry Reid (District 7), Councilmember Pat Kernighan (District 2), and Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan (At-Large) to direct over $6 million to hire new Oakland Police Officers if if Measure I passes in November.

Oakland voters have already received their ballots this week. If the measure passes, it will allow “the City of Oakland to spend over $5 million on police officers, as well as funding for public safety technology and youth violence prevention, if the parcel tax measure is approved by voters in November’s mail-ballot election. Funding will also go towards senior centers, libraries and pothole repair” according to the press release.

Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan, who sent the release, said:

“The resolution’s passage was a victory for advocates of open government – the authors argued that voters deserve to know how the new revenue will be spent – and for proponents of expanded public safety funding. We’ve been working at every turn to restore as many officers as possible. Restoring the number of police officers is a proven strategy to reduce crime.”